Decision Time
by BFangz
Summary: A hard core Cho story. No romance, no friendship, just Cho doing what Cho does.
1. Chapter 1

**Decision Time**

The manual has a procedure for everything. Center of mass is the preferred target area to take out a perp. Of course the manual doesn't see the little girl that the perp is using to shield his body or the gun that he's holding to her head. The manual rarely addresses the situations that we face in real life. The manual was written by some government flunky who had probably never pulled a trigger and seen the resulting mayhem as a high velocity slug splatters tissue, brains, intestines or what ever else is between it and its trajectory all over the place. They'd never seen the perp drop like a sack of meat.

I have. More times than I care to or could remember.

I could see Jane through my scope, and I could hear him through my head set. This was not going well. I shifted focus back to the perp. When you study a man through the scope of the rifle that can end his existence, you get a feel for how he's thinking. I can't explain it. Maybe the up close up look at his face, and being able to examine minutia of his tics and twitches, how his eyes shift from one area to another, or maybe there is some weird sort of psychic connection between you and the man you're going to kill, but you do get a feel. I felt this wasn't good. I felt I was going to kill him.

"You'd like to be alive tomorrow," Jane said. "That can happen. So far, you've done nothing that you can't walk away from." I studied the perp's face and even I can see that he's not buying it. "Not good," I heard in my headset. Jane was expert at speaking without moving his lips. He'd done that for years while playing psychic. Only, now, he wasn't psychic and neither of us knew how it was going to play out, but I think both of us realized that it wasn't going to be good.

.~~~~~~~.

Lisbon had made coffee this morning, and she makes the world's worst coffee. I took a sip, and it was as bad as I was afraid it would be. She glared at me. "Don't you say a damn thing, Cho. Yours is even worse."

I'd not said anything. I'm not into the morning gabfest that some seem to enjoy, but that last, I couldn't let that go. I stood, walked to the sink and poured the coffee out. I looked at her, trying to remain expressionless. "Mine taste like coffee." Jane coughed and spit tea trying to suppress his laugh. I picked up his tea box and held it up. "May I?"

He nodded, wiping the tea off of his chin, the couch and his suit. I started making a cup of tea. He does have good tea, and anyone can brew tea.

Lisbon took a sip of her coffee, seeming to enjoy it. "And just what does mine taste like?"

I think I detect a bit of hostility there. I really don't want to get into an office fight. Maybe I can just walk away from this one. I returned to my desk, blew across the hot tea and took a sip. I logged onto my terminal, pretending I'd not heard her.

"Damn coffee snob," I heard her mutter, but she did go into her office and did not pursue the conversation further. Some women seem to think they are great cooks just because they are women. In my experience, very few women make really good coffee. Some of the best coffee I ever had was in the Corps. Bad coffee could be considered a court martial offense! It just didn't happen.

.~~~~~~~.

The normal morning dragged normally on. A fresh pot of coffee had been brewed, which I could drink, the sound of reports being typed and the regular sounds of a Monday morning office, gearing up, filled the air.

Lisbon came out of her office, face ashen. "Mount up, we have a bad one." When Lisbon says it's bad and looks like that, we don't hesitate. We were in gear and on our way, almost no words spoken. Once we were on the road, GPS coordinates in place, she started briefing us.

"We have an incident at a day care center. A non-custodial parent came in, attempted to leave with his child, and when they tried to stop him, he pulled a gun. They got his daughter from him, but shots were fired, he wounded one of the caretakers, and he's taken a child hostage. He's demanding transportation so that he can leave with is daughter."

"How are we going to work this?" Rigsby asked.

"Jane is going our negotiator. Cho will try to find a clear field of fire and prepare for the worst. The rest of us will station ourselves so the we can minimize problems if things go sour." Lisbon replied.

"Ah, you didn't tell me I was going to have face an armed gunman, when you invited me to come on this ride," Jane observed.

"No, I didn't," Lisbon replied. "I didn't want to have to the conversation that you're trying to start now. Shut up and ask yourself what you'd have done to save your daughter."

The pain was obvious on Jane's face. I'd never heard Lisbon be so cruel, but she's human, and she must be really stressed to say something like that.

Jane drew his lips to a thin line, took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," he almost whispered. That was a low blow that Lisbon delivered, but it landed and accomplished what she wanted. I wondered if there would be any fallout from that interchange. I'm not going to dwell on that. That's their problem. I have my own problem. That's the job facing me.

It's always Cho who finds the field of fire. It's Cho that stares into the eyes of the perp and pulls the trigger. It's Cho that has to live with that, day after day, night after night. I get it. I'm the most qualified, and I am really good at it. Sometimes, it has to be done. You eliminate the guilty to save the innocent. Someone needs to do it, but why is the someone always me?

.~~~~~~~.

We stopped well out of sight of the day care facility. The roads were blocked, but our CBI ID did get us a favored parking spot, in handicap zone, actually. No one will be needing this spot, at least not until this situation is resolved. We were briefed by the officers on the scene, and I was directed to an area where I may be able to find a field of fire.

Lisbon had Jane make phone contact with mystery man inside. I took a circuitous route to the area indicated as a possible vantage point. I don't want to upset our perp and precipitate any action. I'm supposed to be a solution, not a problem. I'm cut into the tac channel on audio, though I have a separate channel to Lisbon and Jane, so I heard the initial phone call. Jane, as always, was the master of communication. Only minutes, and he was this guy's best buddy, and was totally on his side, agreeing with almost everything he said.

I found a window, where I could see into the facility, but I'd need height to get a view and clear shot. I scanned the buildings on the opposite side of the street and found one that seem to have the needed vantage point. I slipped around back and went up the back fire escape. Some guy, carrying a sniper rifle, scaling the front of a building, would be rather obvious!

I found a location that was perfect. I had a view inside of the day care center could actually focus on the perp, Mr. James, as we now knew. I keyed down and said, "I have a field of fire. Try to keep him in that location."

"Good work," Lisbon replied. "We'll be negotiating, stand by."

"Roger," I replied. It seems that I have time to set a proper environment. I found a spot where the rifle aimed at the window would not be obvious. I am not here to intimidate. If I'm needed, it will be to make a kill shot, and that should never be obvious or predictable. A snipers technique is stealth and secrecy, along with accuracy of course.

I got as comfortable as possible and focused my scope to an appropriate field of view and started to study this James character. I want to understand him and his motivations, as much as possible.

When you study a man through the scope of the rifle that can end his existence, you get a feel for how he's thinking. I can't explain it. Maybe the up close up look at his face, and being able to examine minutia of his tics and twitches, how his eyes shift from one area to another, or maybe there is some weird sort of psychic connection between you and the man you're going to kill, but you do get a feel.

Jane droned on, trying to develop a rapport and build a consensus. We've all had the classes, but Jane is a study in how it should be applied. The man is amazing.

Amazing or not, James started to become agitated and started screaming how this was wrong, and maybe two wrongs did make a right. He grabbed his little hostage and pointed the gun at her head, while screaming it was all fucking over. I put the red dot in the scope on his head, about the only kill shot I had with him holding the little girl in front of himself. I exhaled and took the slack out of the trigger.

"You'd like to be alive tomorrow," Jane said. "That can happen. So far, you've done nothing that you can't walk away from." I studied the perp's face and even I can see that he's not buying it. "Not good," I heard in my headset. Jane was expert at speaking without moving his lips. He'd done that for years while playing psychic. Only, now, he wasn't psychic and neither of us knew how it was going to play out, but I think both of us realized that it wasn't going to be good, but James did lower the gun.

"Don't screw with me, Suit Guy. I am not in the mood for your fucking cop lies." He raised the gun, to aim at Jane. Jane made an inarticulate sound, and I've been told that he was like a deer in headlights, but I was focused on what I was doing.

I picked my spot and fired. The resounding crack of an M14 split the air, the recoil from the sniper load slammed into my shoulder. The scope was empty and radio pandemonium ensued. I broke down my gear and prepared to return to our staging point. This day was over, and the sun was getting ready to set. I'd be home in time for whatever Liling has prepared. I am hungry.

.~~~~~~~.

The bullpen is normal chaos. We are all filing initial reports and preparing for a Lisbon debrief.

Lisbon came out of her office. "Good work, guys. Jane, you did all anyone could do. This guy was just too far gone." Jane nodded, and for once looked almost subdued. Almost getting killed can do that to you.

"Cho," she said, turning to me, "you know that you violated almost every protocol going, right?" I stared at her saying nothing. She smiled. "Let me go on record as saying that I'm really glad that you did. Because of you, no lives were lost today and we can all go home feeling good." I still don't have anything to say.

Lisbon stood and addressed all of us. "For those of you who don't know, when Mr. James pointed the gun at Jane, Cho, over there, did not take a kill shot. Cho, decided to put a bullet DOWN THE BARREL of James' gun, stopping him from firing and ripping the gun out of his hand." She paused. "There are sniper legends of such a thing, but you got to see it happen today." She hesitate and resumed, her voice cracking. "Remember it. It'll never happen again."

She's probably right. I don't know what got into me, but I simply did not want to kill, today. I was in the groove, and when I took the shot, I knew it was good, though I was prepared for a follow up. I'd risked Jane's life, but I won't tell him that. They can all think that I'd planned and executed that shot, but it was totally spontaneous. Sometimes you simply have to go with what seems right; you go with the flow. Today, it worked for me. Today I was not an executioner. You see, for all of his pain, I know he wanted to live. I managed to give him that chance.

.~~~~~~~.


	2. Just so you know

**Just so you know:**

This story was inspired by a legend of Gunny Carlos Hathcock. (Google is your friend)

White Feather, as he was known, wrote a book where he told of shooting a Vietnamese sniper through the scope of the other guy's rifle. Such shooting is really possible. Remember, snipers never work close. It is amazing what can be accomplished when "in the bubble" of intense concentration. It takes a very special person to do this.

Snipers are very special people.


End file.
